Author: Ober Rivas, Attorney-at-Law

Judgment No. 580 of the Social Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). Dated: December 2, 2025. Case File R.C. No. AA60-S-2024-000275.

In the legal proceedings initiated by ARIANNA NATHALY MARÍN COLMENAREZ against the commercial entity CABLE NORTE, C.A., seeking the recovery of back pay, statutory severance, and other labor-related entitlements, following the cassation appeal filed by the plaintiff against the ruling dated April 24, 2024, issued by the First Superior Labor Court of the Judicial Circuit of the State of Portuguesa, based in Guanare—which had partially granted the plaintiff’s appeal and modified the judgment issued on February 15, 2024, by the Second Labor Trial Court of the same Judicial Circuit—the Social Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, with an opinion delivered by Justice CARLOS ALEXIS CASTILLO on December 2, 2025, handed down Judgment No. 580.

This ruling establishes that the food benefit (Cestaticket) not paid by an employer in a timely manner assumes an indemnitory nature, requiring its value to be updated to the amount in effect at the time the payment is effectively made. This is in accordance with Executive Decree No. 4,508 of May 1, 2023, published in the Official Gazette of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela No. 6,746 Extraordinary, and the precedent established by the Social Cassation Chamber of the TSJ in Judgment No. 712, published on December 19, 2024 (Case: David Rafael Ochoa Olivera vs. Clínica Sanatrix, C.A.), which serves to determine the current value of the benefit at the time of effective payment.

In this regard, the Chamber states that since the adjustment of said benefit to the amount of forty United States Dollars ($40.00 USD) by the President of the Republic is a matter of public knowledge, the conversion to Bolivars must be calculated using the official exchange rate on the date of payment. The Court further reasoned that any default by the employer regarding the timely payment of this benefit must be satisfied as an indemnity, adjusted to the current value at the time of payment.

At present, the amount of $40.00 USD serves as the money of account, requiring conversion into Venezuela’s legal tender (Bolivars) at the rate established by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) on the payment date. To illustrate this point, the Court’s decision is quoted as follows:

“…omisis…

Furthermore, it is a matter of public knowledge and common reporting that the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela adjusted the aforementioned benefit, pursuant to the decree cited above, to the amount of forty United States Dollars ($40.00 USD), which must be converted and paid in Bolivars using the official exchange rate as of the effective date of payment. (Underlining by this Chamber).”

Consistent with this approach, the ruling addresses the criteria for paying the food benefit when the employer has failed to honor it in a timely manner:

“(…) From the aforementioned rule, it is evident that if the employer fails to pay the food benefit, even if the employment relationship ends for any reason, compliance shall be enforced as an indemnity and on a retroactive basis. This shall be calculated from the moment the right originated, based on the current value of the benefit at the time effective payment is verified.

In this context, this Chamber considers that the legislator’s intent and purpose was to establish an obligation for the employer to pay said benefit retroactively in the event of default, which takes on an indemnitory nature upon the termination of the employment relationship. Similarly, it is inferred from said legal provision that the current value of the food benefit must be applied at the time of payment as a consequence of the employer’s failure to meet this obligation toward the worker. …”

To consult the full judgment (available in Spanish), click the following link: https://historico.tsj.gob.ve/decisiones/scs/diciembre/351014-580-21225-2025-24-275.HTML